In the field of telecommunications, new applications are usually first implemented in a proprietary format. One example of this is the first voice over IP systems (VOIP). Then standards are developed concerning protocols specifically designed for these new applications, e.g. the H.323 and SIP protocols for VOIP systems. Finally, when the development of the new applications expands to a larger scale, typically internationally, other standards are developed concerning the communication architecture. Such standards describe how the functions supporting the new applications are distributed and organized, such as the 3GPP IMS standard for VOIP and multimedia sessions.
For the field of object-to-object communications, the current situation is the following:                For local monitoring and sensor networks, various protocol standards currently exist, including local architecture standards. Examples in the field of building automation are protocols such as BACnet, Zigbee, LON or Zwave.        For wide-area sensor networks, only standards concerning the protocol exist, while others (COAP) are emerging. The collection of measurement data through centralized communication systems, or even remote control of consumer equipment, have also have been in existence for years.        
More recently, the IP standard has been used as a basic communication protocol between monitoring servers and objects, and protocols based on the IP standard have been developed for functions such as police monitoring.